A veteran of Stoke City’s early years in the Premier League has questioned the mentality of the current squad to survive a relegation battle.

Danny Higginbotham played 64 top-flight games for the Potters between 2008 and 2013, many of them when the club was fighting for its Premier League life. And he has doubted the ability of Mark Hughes’ Stoke team to “roll up their sleeves and scrap” to win matches.

Danny Higginbotham holds off the challenge of Chelsea forward Didier Drogba during a Premier League match at the Britannia Stadium on September 27, 2008. (Image: CARL DE SOUZA)

“When you’re at the bottom of the league there’s only one way to get out of it – you have to scrap your way out. I look at Stoke and I look at the players they’ve got – have they got that mentality?

“They’ve got good footballers, they have players who are very pleasing on the eye, but have they got enough players who can roll up their sleeves and scrap when needed? Because that’s what it’s all about now.

The embattled manager looks certain to be in charge of Stoke’s FA Cup tie at League Two Coventry City on Saturday, but beyond that his future remains unclear.

He added: “I do hope Mark Hughes can turn it around – from my point of view, I’d love nothing more than to see that – but it’s getting to the point now when it’s starting to become desperate for Stoke City. There will come a point when the powers that be will say, ‘enough is enough’.

“But who is out there? Everyone is saying it’s time for Hughes to go, but who do you replace him with? That’s the big question.”